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Koeman taking realistic approach to Southampton transfer policy

Ronald Koeman admits he would like to see Southampton spend a little more money on strengthening their squad.

In the past two summer transfer windows, since Koeman joined the club, the Saints have sold the likes of Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Calum Chambers, Rickie Lambert, Nathaniel Clyne and Morgan Schneiderlin for a total close to £130million.

During that time, the St Mary's outfit have spent in the region of £103m on such players as Dusan Tadic, Graziano Pelle, Fraser Forster, Shane Long, Sadio Mane, Ryan Bertrand, Juanmi, Cedric Soares, Jordy Clasie, Oriol Romeu and Virgil van Dijk, enabling them to be sitting 10th on the Premier League table following last season's seventh-placed finish.

In order to mix it with the bigger clubs in England, Koeman feels it is time for Southampton to really spend big though the Dutchman acknowledges that sometimes things are much easier said than done.

"When I came to the club, I knew already that we would lose some good players, and we lost, after last season, Schneiderlin and Clyne, important players for the team, important positions in the team," Koeman said.

"Of course, we would like to keep the best players because that means we can grow and grow.

"If not, we need to spend money, and we don't spend a lot of money. After the last transfer window there was one team in the Premier League who got money out of the transfer window, and that was Southampton. Nobody else. Everyone else spent more money than they got in.

"I'd like to change that but I'm realistic. I know the situation of the club. The club is growing and growing and growing. I hope we can do more for the next couple of years. That would be important for the club."